I Cross My Heart (15 page)

Bethany grinned at Jack. “It’s a thought, but no. I don’t think bronzing would improve the look. I’m growing fond of it, but I don’t think it belongs in the front yard anymore.”

“That’s a relief. I was afraid we’d have to figure out how to dress it up pretty for the cameras. Okay, first thing tomorrow, when we have on our work clothes, we’re hauling it...somewhere.”

Nash turned off the headlights and stepped down from his truck. “I volunteer for that job.” He walked over to Bethany and lowered his voice. “Nice speech.”

“Thanks.” She might have said more, but Lucy came toward her.

“Now that the chair business is settled, Bethany, can I see the house?”

“Sure thing.”
One down, one to go.
Bethany maintained her bravado until the moment when Lucy walked through the front door. When Nash’s mother lifted her eyebrows, Bethany wanted to run and hide in the back of the house until everyone had left.

But that would be cowardly, so she stood her ground. As did Nash, and she appreciated that.

Lucy’s gaze, her blue eyes so like Nash’s, took in the bed from head to foot. It paused on the scattering of rose petals, and the corners of her mouth lifted. Not a lot, but a little.

Then she looked straight at Bethany. “All I ask is that you not break my boy’s heart.”

“I would never want to do that, Mrs. Hutchinson.” She’d figured out that Lucy had taken Ronald’s last name and was no longer using “Bledsoe.”

“Considering your close relationship to my son, you ought to call me Lucy.”

“Thank you...Lucy.” She’d never been a mother, and her own mom had not been protective, but Lucy was. Bethany was a little in awe of Lucy and certainly didn’t want to become her enemy. She had no desire to break Nash’s heart, just as she knew he had no desire to break hers. But there would be pain when they parted. Nobody could keep that from happening.

“Are you going to show me the rest of the house?”

“Absolutely.” With a glance at Nash, who covertly gave her a thumbs-up, she escorted Lucy on a minitour. Behind her, she heard Nash welcoming the rest of the Chance family into the house.

If she hadn’t been so tense, she would have laughed. They’d supposedly come to evaluate how much work needed to be done to the exterior, but everyone seemed far more interested in this little house. As Nash bragged about the work she’d done on the floor in the master bedroom, she had the oddest feeling that the two of them were showing off their shared dwelling to visitors. For a few days, it had been theirs.

But soon it would belong to him and she’d no longer have the right to walk through these rooms. Thinking of that, she looked at everything with more fondness than she’d ever done before. After all, for more than half her life, it had been home.

At long last, the crowd of people headed outside. Bethany had never bothered to hook up the spotlights she’d bought to help Nash work after dark. They had become superfluous. But the Chance crew had come armed with powerful flashlights and everyone huddled as they discussed what needed to be done.

Finally Jack broke away from the group and came toward her. “We should start at first light.”

“That’s fine. I’m sure I’ll be up.”

He hesitated. “It’ll be quite an onslaught. I hope you’re ready for that. This place has been deserted for some time.”

“Jack, you and your family, and Nash’s family, are lifesavers. Go for it.”

Lucy approached. “I’ve been thinking that if those newspeople want to go inside the house, you should move that bed. Otherwise it’s liable to end up on TV.”

Bethany managed to keep a straight face. “I agree. It’s going in the master bedroom.”

“But that leaves you with an empty living room.”

“Can’t be helped. The old furniture was hideous. Better nothing than what was there.”

“Since Ronald and I combined households, we have several pieces we don’t need. Nash may not want to keep them forever, but we’ll bring them over, so you can fill up the space and make it look homey.”

“Thanks, Lucy.” Bethany smiled at her. “That would be wonderful. Give me until nine in the morning, and I’ll have the living room floor polished for you.”

“I can tell you’re a hard worker. I’ve always admired that.” She glanced at Nash, who was in conversation with Jack. Then she edged closer and lowered her voice. “Is there any way you could commute back and forth?”

“No, there isn’t.”

“I only ask because my daughter, Katrina, works in New York State, and she travels with the thoroughbred racing circuit. Her fiancé, Ronald’s son, is constantly on the go with his photography. I don’t know when and if Hutch and Katrina will settle in one place, but they’re making a go of it. So I wondered if you and Nash...”

“His life is here and mine is there. We live far apart and we’re both tied to our locations. I don’t see how we could manage a relationship.”

The soft light of hope died in Lucy’s eyes. “I had to ask.”

“Of course you did.” Impulsively, Bethany gave her a hug. “I can see how much you love him.”

“And so do you.”

The direct statement caught her off guard. “I...probably could, but I haven’t allowed myself to.”

“Bull.”

Bethany’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

“You love him. I’ve lived long enough to recognize the signs. You watch him when you think he doesn’t know it. Your expression goes all soft when he looks at you. You put rose petals on his bed. And he’s in the same fix. That’s why I’m worried. You say you don’t intend to break his heart, but I don’t see how you can avoid it.”

Despair swamped her. “I have to avoid it. The last thing I want to do is hurt him.”

“Then stay.”

“Oh, Lucy, you don’t know what you’re asking. Have you ever watched Opal’s show?”

“Never miss it. Have a TV in the back of the ice-cream parlor. She’s a wonderful person.”

“Opal’s supported me from the day I released my first book. She’s arranged for me to have a permanent segment on her show. She’s one of the most powerful women in America, and she’s thrown that influence behind me and my career. Tell me, would you turn your back on that?”

Lucy frowned in concentration. “I don’t know. I’ve never had one of the most powerful women in America endorse my ice cream and offer me a TV gig. I’ll have to think about that and get back to you.”

“Fair enough.”

“Which reminds me. Did that boy of mine bring you the fudge ripple I sent?”

“He did.”

“What did you think?”

“Lucy, I’ll tell you the honest truth. We didn’t get around to opening it.”

She smiled. “When you do, let me know your opinion. It’s my favorite, so I thought I was safe in sending it as a gift. But you may be one of those people who can’t abide chocolate.”

“I’m not one of those people.”

“Good. Then I think we can be friends.”

“I think we can.” Bethany didn’t know how that could work out in the long run, but she was more than happy to be friends with Lucy until the inevitable happened and she and Nash broke each other’s hearts. At that point, Lucy would never forgive her. Bethany wouldn’t blame her a bit.

15

N
ASH
WAS
DETERMINED
to wait everybody out so he could be alone with Bethany. But as sometimes happened in gatherings of this sort, no one seemed willing to be the first to leave. Finally Nash went over to Jack. “I don’t mean to seem ungrateful and all, but could you get this herd moving?”

Jack adjusted the tilt of his black Stetson. “Have plans, do you?”

“Some.”

“I would hope so. That’s one hell of a bed. And it has rose petals on it.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Listen, thanks for helping me order it. And, Jack, I appreciate you and your brothers stepping up tonight.”

“Ah, you know the Chance boys. We live for this kind of drama. It’s us against the smarmy greenhorns who want to make the good people of Jackson Hole look bad. We can’t have that around here.”

“I know Bethany was touched.”

Jack glanced in Bethany’s direction. “She’s a nice lady. I’d have thought, with all that Bledsoe charm, you could’ve convinced her to stick around.”

“Even if I could, I wouldn’t. She has a golden opportunity to become a really big television personality. What kind of guy would mess with that?”

Jack nodded. “Good point. Which means you need to maximize what little time you have with the charming Miss Grace.”

“Exactly. That said, I’m staying the night.”

“With a woman like Bethany and a bed like that one, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t. We’ll be out of your way shortly.”

“Thanks, Jack.” He watched in admiration as his buddy maneuvered the group in his own teasing style. He made a joke here, a provocative suggestion there, and within ten minutes, everyone had waved goodbye, piled into their vehicles and started down the bumpy road to their respective homes and beds.

Bethany walked over to him. “You put Jack up to that, didn’t you?”

“I couldn’t very well ask them all to leave after what they’re proposing to do tomorrow. But he could.” Nash captured her hand in his and started toward the house. “Let’s go examine that bed.”

“You have good friends, Nash.”

“The best.”

“I know they’re doing this more for you than for me, but their willingness to help my cause is amazing. My dad wasn’t the least bit neighborly, and they don’t really know me at all.”

“They know you.” He walked with her up the creaky porch steps. By tomorrow night, after the Chance boys had finished with this place, the steps wouldn’t creak. “They know that you chose to sell the ranch to me instead of some stranger who might tear it down and build God-knows-what. Your concern for the history and the future of the Triple G is all the recommendation they need to classify you as good people.”

“Before I got here, I was sure I’d be able to sell it without a second thought.”

He opened the screen door and ushered her inside. “Then I guess you learned something about yourself this week.” Closing the door, he twisted the lock. She didn’t seem to notice that he’d locked them in.

“I learned a
lot
about myself this week.” She nestled against him. “I can let that chair go, but I’ll never forget it.”

“I’m not taking it to the dump.” He tilted his hat back and pulled her close.

“You’re not? But you said you’d handle the job.”

“And I will. I haven’t figured out exactly what I want to do with it, so until I do, I’ll haul it out to a back pasture and leave it for now.”

“You’re crazy, Nash Bledsoe.”

“Yeah.”
Crazy about you.
But he wouldn’t say that and mess up a good thing. “Listen, I know we talked about playing around with ice cream tonight.”

“I kept the shipping plastic if you still want to.”

He looked into her beautiful gray eyes. God, he was going to miss her. “I think, considering how the bed looks so nice all fixed up with rose petals and clean sheets, that we should just...”

She reached up and took off his hat. “I agree. But indulge me with one thing, cowboy.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ll show you.” Easing out of his arms, she turned and sent his hat sailing toward the farthest bedpost. It dropped neatly down as if she’d been practicing the move for hours.

“Good aim!”

“Lucky throw. But I’ve always wanted to do that.”

He smiled, more charmed by her than she’d ever know. “Glad I could accommodate you. Anything else I can do to make your wishes come true?”

“Oh, I think there are plenty of things. But first, let me set the stage.” She walked over to the wall switch and turned off the overhead.

“Wait.” He peered into the darkness where she was standing. “I can’t see you.”

“Look at the bed.”

He shifted his attention, and sure enough, moonlight showcased the white bed as if someone were up in a booth directing the scene. “How did you know that would happen?”

“I noticed where the moonlight fell last night and made sure that’s where the guys set up the bed.”

“Nicely done. But I still can’t see you.” His eyes were adjusting slowly, but she must have moved back into the shadows. He heard rustling noises that indicated she was up to something. “I’d rather look at you than an empty bed.”

“I thought you might.” A gloriously naked Bethany stepped out of the shadows and sashayed over to the bed. Nudging back the covers, she slipped under the white sheets as rose petals fluttered around her. The edge of the sheet almost covered her breasts, but not quite. A rose petal drifted into her cleavage and quivered with each breath she took.

Nash was transfixed.

“Care to join me, cowboy?”

“Yes.” But when he’d dressed for dinner, he’d decided against tucking condoms in his jeans pocket. He didn’t want to take a chance that he might shove his hands in his pockets during the evening and accidentally dislodge one. “But first I have to get—”

“This?” She held up a small foil package.

“Where did that come from?”

“I hid one under the pillow so it would be handy.”

He started laughing as he pulled off his boots and shucked his clothes. “And you were worried about rose petals. What if my mother had decided to check to see if I bought goose down or polyester?”

“She’d do that?”

“Maybe. She loves goose-down pillows and might have wondered if I’d splurged on some.”

“Then I guess your mother would have discovered that we practice safe sex.”

“And she’d be proud.” He tossed the last of his clothes to the floor and walked into the patch of moonlight that contained all he wanted in the world. “But I’m going to stop talking about her now, if it’s all right with you.” He slid into bed beside her.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“I don’t want to talk at all.” He ran his hand over her satiny skin.

“Do you want me to talk?”

“No.” He cupped her breast as his lips hovered over hers. “I want you to moan.”

And so she did. Often and deeply. He made love to her with an intensity far greater than it had been before, because now he could see the end. Tomorrow the Chance brigade would arrive on their doorstep, and after that, no doubt a news team would show up ready to rake some muck. He and Bethany might have more intimate moments like this, but he wouldn’t bet on it.

He kissed every square inch of her he could reach, and then he had her turn over so he could cover that territory, too. He coaxed her to come with his fingers and with his mouth. Finally, when he couldn’t stand the ache in his groin any longer, he eased her onto her back. Putting on a condom, he sank into her hot, wet center.

“At last!” She clutched his hips and pulled him in tighter. “This is what I want, Nash. This!”

Braced on his forearms and cradling her head in his hands, he looked into her moonlit eyes. “It’s what I want, too,” he murmured as he began to move. Being close, holding her, loving her, was all he could ever want.

Because he couldn’t tell her so, he said nothing more, but he held her gaze and talked to her with his body. The easy strokes were a promise never to forget what they’d shared. The deeper, more powerful thrusts spoke of his passion. And at last he pounded into her until they both came in a fiery explosion of need. His ultimate surrender as he convulsed within her...was a declaration of love.

But at the end, he was afraid she’d see too much in his expression. He pressed his face into the hollow of her shoulder as the shudders wracked his body. He needed her so much. So very much.

She held him as if she’d never let him go. “I don’t want you to leave.” Her voice was hoarse. “I know it’s late, but I can’t bear the thought of you getting out of this bed.”

He lifted his head and pillowed his cheek on her breast. “I’m not leaving.” He dragged in air. “I told Jack I was staying.”

“Oh, good.” She hugged him tighter. “So we have all night.”

“Mmm-hmm.” He lifted his head and looked into her eyes again. “Think you can handle that?”

“Slide your hand under the pillow and you’ll see that I can.”

He followed her directions and touched another foil packet, and another, and another. “Good God, woman, how many did you stash under here?”

“A few.”

“You must think I’m some kind of stallion.” And that was great for the ego.

“Aren’t you?”

“Yeah, honey cakes.” Smiling, he leaned down and kissed her. “Yeah, I am.”

* * *

T
HEY
TESTED
THAT
KING
bed thoroughly throughout the night. They slept a little and made love a lot. Bethany worried that she might be tired the next morning, but either the bed was magic or Nash was, because she woke up refreshed and excited to start the day. So did he, and they made the discovery they were both morning people.

Working together, they stripped the bed and dismantled it. When they both admitted the new sheets had felt a little stiff, Bethany threw them in the washing machine while they reassembled the bed in the master bedroom. They worked quickly because the sun was coming up and that meant the Last Chance crew could arrive any minute. Bethany cooked breakfast while Nash made the recliner disappear.

She didn’t ask him where he’d taken it and he didn’t volunteer the information. His sentimentality about that chair now rivaled hers, and it made her heart ache. No two ways about it, he was going to be devastated when she left.

But she didn’t have much time to fret about that, because right after they’d finished eating their scrambled eggs and had gulped down some coffee, the renovation crew arrived. The trucks came packed with people and supplies. Under Jack’s direction, lengths of two-by-fours were unloaded from the backs of pickups and sawhorses were quickly set up by the barn.

In no time the air was filled with the sounds of nail guns and power saws. Jack had obviously put himself in charge of the operation and he seemed to be in his element directing the troops. Then Pete pulled in with a vanload of kids and set them to work making sure everyone had what they needed, whether that was a drink of water or a screwdriver. He assigned each boy to a cowhand until he ran out of boys and had to double up on a few.

“We’re the slaves,” a tattooed kid said to Bethany as he sprinted past. “I’m Mr. Bledsoe’s slave.” But he was grinning with pride as he said that. Being assigned to Nash had apparently been a hit with him.

Although Bethany would have loved to stay outside and work alongside Nash and the rest of the crew, she remembered that she’d promised to have the living room floor ready by nine. She’d barely finished when Lucy knocked on the screen door. “We’re here!”

Bethany went out to the porch, where she discovered Ronald Hutchinson letting down the tailgate of a pickup loaded with furniture. “Goodness! Did you leave anything for yourselves?”

“Of course we did,” Lucy said. “Once I moved in with Ronald, his house looked like something out of that television show about hoarders. It’ll be nice to walk around without bumping into things.”

“I’m sure Nash will be thrilled. Thank you.”

Lucy glanced down toward the barn. “It’s already looking good down there. I brought a whole bunch of dark red paint, too, just the shade he likes. It’s called Barn Red.”

Bethany followed the direction of her gaze to where Nash labored with the rest of the men. Sarah and the wives had shown up, too.

“You’d think they were at a party the way they’re all laughing and having a good time,” Lucy said.

“I know.” Bethany wasn’t sure how to handle her deep yearning to be a part of the festivities. Oh, sure, she could go down there and work with them today, but that would be it. No point in trying to fit in when she was on the brink of leaving.

By noon, an amazing amount of progress had been made on all fronts. The inside of the house looked quite lovely now that the living room had some decent furniture in it. The barn was getting a coat of Barn Red, and Emmett Sterling, the Last Chance’s foreman, had arrived with rosebushes to plant in the front yard.

Then Mary Lou showed up with food, and everyone took a break to share the meal and admire the work that had been accomplished so far. Nash brought his plate over and sat on the porch steps so he could eat with Bethany, Lucy and Ronald.

“It might look like a three-ring circus,” he said, “but I think we’ll actually get the place looking decent before the sun goes down.”

“Have you seen the furniture your mom and Ronald brought over?” Bethany asked.

“No.” He put down his plate and hopped onto the porch to go look. “I forgot all about that.” He opened the screen door and whistled in approval. “Outstanding.” He turned to smile at them. “You’re awesome. I’ll give it back once I have a chance to buy a few things, but this is great.”

“Don’t give it back to us,” Lucy said. “It’s yours until you pass it on to someone else. We’re done with it.”

“Wow, thanks. I—” He stopped talking and looked down the road. “Here comes somebody. And unless I’m seeing things, they’re driving a black limo. Must be an idiot to try and bring a limo down that road.”

Bethany’s heart raced. “Are you sure it’s a limo?”

“Yep. They’re creeping along, though. It’ll take a while before they pull in.”

Bethany stood and took a deep breath. “Well, everyone, get ready. This party just got a little more interesting.”